Marshall pushed aside the masses of vines and bushes masking the entrance of the cave. Twirling a small dagger in between his fingers, he walked along the uneven earth, moving side to side to dodge numerous rocks and boulders along the path. He did this from memory, not really using his eyes to see since the entire way was pitch black anyway. If he were to be some random onlooker, it would take him most likely a day to navigate across the large cavern without the knowledge of the area. But he wasn't just an onlooker, and it only took him about five minutes to get through. Marshall stopped in front of a large stone wall that would normally be mistaken for a dead end if anybody were to even get that far. He counted his steps as he walked to the side and pushed. The area in which he pushed on the wall easily gave in, moving out just like a normal door would.
Inside revealed a large and wide clearing, big enough to fit an entire lake on one side, a large house in the middle, and free room to easily run around in. A few sides of the cavern had wide open holes allowing air and light to enter the room as well. But these openings were nearly impossible to use as entrances for they were open on the sides of a deep canyon. He didn't care though. They used them for windows instead.
Marshall opened the door to the house and took a deep breath before entering. "Marce I'm back!" He yelled. Raising an eyebrow when there was no reply, he took a step inside. "Why are the lights off?" Reaching over, he flicked the lights of the room on and looked around. He sighed once finding her on the couch asleep. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to her room, removing all of her equipment and outer clothing for she didn't bother to do it herself earlier. As he tucked her in bed, Marshall noticed that she was holding something in the clutches of her hands something silver which was strand around her neck. He gave a sad smile knowing exactly what it was. How could he forget? She wore it everywhere.
"Team agents Double F's here to investigate the crime of the birthday presents."
Both Finn and Fionna pulled out their honorary badges, showing it to one of the police guards keeping the crowd of curious people away from the crime scene. They had come there bright and early the morning to explore the details of the chandelier and the presents disappearing. The police men were still inside, hoping to uncover what had happened. Cautionary tapes were strapped around the entrance.
"Oh really? Agents?" A rather tubby police guard examined their badges with uninterest. In fact, he barely even looked at it.
"Yes." Finn replied flatly, both him and Fionna tucking away their badges simultaneously.
The police guard stroked his stubby beard. "Yeah… Okay… Listen, you two kids should go back home and leave the dangerous work to the tough police men!" He spoke to them like they were five-year olds. "It will take more than a fake badge to get past me!" This time he used more of an annoyed tone.
Finn sighed and held his head. He turned around. "Come Fionna, we'll go find another way in."
"Yeah right!" The police guard laughed.
Finn cringed at the sound of his voice behind him. He tried very hard not to turn back around and start a pointless argument.
"So what should we do?" Fionna sat down on a wooden bench, Finn following after her.
Finn observed the house, watching as the police guard laughed along with another police guard. He thought about breaking in, but that would mean having to avoid detection. They wouldn't be able to get any work done if they had to avoid everybody. So Finn tried to think of another idea.
"Maybe I can help?" The sound of footsteps approached them.
Finn and Fionna turned towards the direction of the voice, finding a young girl around the same age as them.
"Who are you?" Finn studied her. It wasn't normal for somebody to just offer help to them. More or less a stranger.
She smiled. "The name's Flame. Or well, that's actually a nickname but you can call me that."
Fionna looked at her curiously. "How can you help?"
Flame pointed towards the building. "You just need to get in right?"
They nodded.
"Just follow me then." She smiled again, this time walking towards the police guard that rejected Finn and Fionna earlier.
Both of them warily stood up, wondering what she was going to do. Before even following her, Finn silently mouthed to Fionna if they should even go after her. Fionna merely held up her hands and shrugged her shoulders, leaving Finn to go to her. Finn sighed and followed behind. Both of them catching up to find Flame speaking to the police guard.
"Right away FP." The police guard hurriedly moved aside, allowing them to pass through.
Flame turned around to them. "Well come on!" She motioned for them to enter.
They looked at her in surprise at how easily she commanded the police guard to move. As they passed by the guard who was continuously glaring at them, Fionna couldn't help but stick her tongue out at him. The guard growled.
"How did you do that?" Finn turned his head back as he spoke, watching Fionna laugh to herself at the guards reaction and coming to catch up with them.
"Daughter of the owner of the Fire Department." Flame spoke. "That's where the nickname 'Flame' came from. And the 'P' stands for 'Princess' because, you know. Daughter."
Finn nodded. "Why are you helping us anyway?"
Flame stopped walking. "You're agents right? You're awfully young to be agents."
"Don't start on us…"
"No no. I'm jealous actually. I've always wanted to be an agent and was going to be one when I was older. I almost gave up on that dream since I began to believe that agents weren't actually real since nobody actually knows where you guys are or what you guys do. But then I found you two today." She grinned.
Finn nodded, feeling a bit sorry for her.
She continued walking "How old are you guys anyway?"
"I'm seventeen." He answered. "And this one is sixteen, almost seventeen." He pointed behind him with his thumb, indicating Fionna who had finally just caught up with them and was still laughing. "Well she should be."
Fionna grinned at him.
Flame nodded and smiled. "So what are you guys doing here?"
Finn looked around the room of the house, listening as many policemen's radios and walkie-talkies beeped. "Finding some clues to capture some thieves." He put his hands on his hips, observing all the cautionary tape everywhere.
"Do you carry light or is all of your stuff hidden somewhere?"
Finn raised an eyebrow. "Is that actually important?"
She gave a shy smile. "No not really. Seeing some agents in the flesh makes me want to learn more about them." Flame stopped again. "You are real agents right?"
"Of course."
"Okay good." She continued walking. Looking to the side, she spotted somebody. "Hey Fire!" Flame cupped her hands around her mouth, directing it to one boy working alongside some policemen.
He took notice of her and dusted his hands off. "Flame why did you bring people in here?" He spoke as he walked to her.
Flame grinned. "They aren't average people." She leaned in closer and whispered. "They're agents."
His eyes widened and he whispered back. "Are you sure?"
She nodded.
He smiled and turned to Finn. "I'm Fire. Prince of the Fire Department."
"I'm Finn. And this is Fionna. One of the many teams in the agency." Finn spoke.
Fionna stepped in. "Hey when you guys call your names do people think that the building is on fire?"
Fire laughed. "Sadly yes."
"Are you siblings?" Finn asked.
"Not really. We're blood related somehow though." He smiled, continuing to stare at Fionna.
Fionna took notice and uneasily smiled back.
"So what can I help you with?" Fire nodded off at Flame who told him she would be leaving to go help somebody else in the meantime.
"Could you take us to the chandelier?"
"Of course. Right this way!" He motioned for them to follow like Flame had, directing them towards an area clear of police.
Finn knelt down beside the broken chandelier, picking up bits and pieces of it that had broken off.
Fionna was on the other side of the chandelier doing the same thing.
While they worked, the policemen inside gave them weird looks, confused to what they were doing in there in the first place. They didn't bother asking though, guessing that it was some reason they weren't allowed to know.
"Do you need help?" Fire asked, standing behind Fionna watching her observe each broken piece.
"No it's fine." She replied politely, not turning around to speak to him directly. "But thanks anyway."
He nodded, yet continued to stand there anyway.
Fionna hated the feeling of being watched. "Can I help you?" She asked as politely as she could.
"Nope. I'm good." He smiled.
Fionna sighed and dropped everything in her hands onto the floor. The sound of metal hitting the hard floor was louder than she meant it to be. Looking over to see how Finn was doing, she noticed that Flame was back with them, helping Finn sort through the pile of metals he had found. To her surprise was that he let somebody not part of the agency help him. Fionna looked back into her pile then looked up at Fire who was still watching her. She turned to the chandelier and just watched it even though she knew that it wouldn't do anything. But then something caught her eye in the middle of the broken chandelier. Squinting to see it better, Fionna crawled inside and grabbed the tiny shiny thing. "A needle?" She muttered to herself. Looking around to find anything else to make sure that it wasn't just some coincidence, she found yet another needle. "Hey Finn?" She stood up without thinking, hitting her head against the bars of the chandelier. Fionna groaned as she fell back down and held her head.
"Fionna! Are you okay?" Fire rushed over and helped her out of the chandelier pile.
"Yeah." She rubbed her head. "Thanks."
"Fionna!" Finn and Flame ran over to her, hearing the loud sound of her hitting her head.
"Are you serious Fionna? Again?" Finn sighed.
"Thanks I'm fine, Finn!" Fionna replied sarcastically.
"Oh come on. You hit your head all the time. I don't really want to ask the same question over and over again knowing that you actually are okay." Finn gave a small laugh. "Anyway did you find something?"
Fionna remembered what was in her hands. "Oh yeah. I found these needles!" She handed the two needles to him.
He studied them. "Coincidence?"
"No." Fionna pointed to the bars of the chandelier. "The part where I hit my head was cracked." She took the two needles back from him and walked over to the bars, picking up the chain that was still connected to a piece of roof. Fionna observed the chain until she found just what she wanted, a small hole. "See look. The cracking starts from this broken hole." She inserted one of the needles into it. "And look a perfect fit."
Finn tapped his chin. "It's a big stretch. But what you're saying is they used a needle-"
"Two needles."
"Two needles" Finn corrected himself. "and threw it at that hole that was probably luckily there from age, causing the chain and bars to also break because of age, causing the whole thing to fall."
Fionna smiled. "Exactly."
Finn shrugged his shoulders as he pulled out his notepad, writing down whatever they had come with. "We don't know for sure though, but at least it's something." He turned around to both Flame and Fire behind him. "Could you take us to the present crime scene?"
They nodded.
"So you're saying they threw the presents out the window and ran up that wall?" Fionna pointed towards the window in which they assumed the people who stole used as an escape route.
Finn stood by the wall looking over the almost invisible footprints planted on the wall. He nodded at her. "Yep."
Fionna's eyes lit up as she smiled. "Do you think it was them?"
He smiled back. "Hopefully. This would help a lot if it were."
They both turned to Flame and Fire who were still watching them.
"I'm so confused." Flame spoke. "How do you two know what the other is thinking? I mean Finn you only just pointed at what looks like footprints. Actually I can't even see them. And Fionna you only just showed the hole on the chandelier chain. How do you guys just have an idea on what happened?"
Finn and Fionna shrugged their shoulders. "We just do that and hope we're right. Usually we are right but there's always a chance for fail."
Finn smiled to them. "Thank you very much for helping us today. But we best get going now."
Fire and Flame whispered amongst themselves. "Actually before you leave…Would you two... Maybe want to go somewhere sometime?"
Finn looked over at Fionna who had the look of slight unease in her eyes.
"Are you asking us out?" Fionna spoke to clarify what they were actually implying.
They nodded.
Finn studied Fionna's reaction. "Sorry, but we don't have the time right about now. Thanks anyway though." He replied for the both of them.
"Oh… Oh it's fine. Bye then."
Finn nodded to them. "Let's go Fionna." They left through the front doors, taking the two needles with them.
"Police have concluded that the chandelier fell due to rusting." The news reporter on T.V spoke.
Fionna was lying on the couch watching the news for nothing better was on at the time.
Finn was in the kitchen, placing the needles inside a small plastic zip bag and labeling the front of it. "If it is them, we could count this as our first proof since starting." He lightly shook the bag. "I wanted to go dust them for fingerprints, but somebody had to grab it and get her own fingerprints on it."
Fionna grunted from the couch.
"What's wrong?" Finn noticed her rather less lively behavior.
"Nothing." She spoke.
"As for the presents, we are here with the host of the party today. Tell me sir, was there anything valuable inside the presents that robbers might have wanted?"
The man shook his head. "Not that I know of."
"Anything hidden inside the cake?"
He laughed "Nope. Just some strawberry coating and flavoring."
Fionna shot up in the air and landed on her feet. "That's it!"
Finn raised an eyebrow "Strawberries?"
"No… Actually can we get strawberries? I want some."
"Not until you tell me what you were thinking."
"Oh. Right. Oh! Okay we can lure the Duo of Thieves out of hiding!"
Finn poured himself a cup of water and sipped it. "Continue?"
"Okay hear me out."
"I kind of am already."
"No that's not the point!"
Finn sighed. She doesn't usually make sense when she has a big idea she wants to tell and not forget. "Okay Fionna I'm listening."
"Okay! So. We get some tracker devises right? And have our own 'party'." She made wolf claw gestures at the word 'party'.
"Uh huh?" Finn took another sip.
"We hide the tracker devises on the presents and the cake, and when they come to get it, the tracker will go with them and we'll know exactly where they are! The news people are talking about valuables and everything so if we have some 'valuables'" She made wolf gestures again. "Then they'd want to come steal it!"
Finn smiled. "Fionna we don't have that much money for a lot of trackers. Even though the agency pays for our room we still have to get our own food and gadgets."
"Then we'll get only one!"
Finn took another sip. "That plan is so crazy it'd probably work. If we want to do it today we better get started, it's almost dark."
Fionna excitedly jumped in the air. "I'll go buy pre-wrapped boxes and a cake, and you go buy the tracker and invite people to make it seem real."
"Alright." Finn took another sip.
She frowned at him. "Well get your butt moving!"
He laughed as he placed the cup down onto the table and followed after her outside of the room.
"Marshall where's my boot…" Marceline threw the cushions of the couch, in search for her silent thiefy boot. "Never mind I found it." She pulled it out from under the couch and slipped it on, lightly stomping it on the ground to fit it.
"Are you ready yet…?" Marshall leaned on the doorway, watching her find all of the items she had lost.
She twisted her body side to side to make sure she had all the equipment she needed. "Yep." She nodded and ran after him as he left the house.
"So what do you want to do today?" Marshall asked as they stepped out of the cave into the now dark land.
"Scouting?" Marceline looked up at the moon which had just recently shown since the sun went down.
Marshall thought about it. "Works for me." He pulled the scarf over his nose and pulled his hood over his head.
Marceline only pulled the scarf over her nose. "Let's go." She jumped backwards doing a backflip landing on the top of the hill and jumped off of the hill, grabbing onto the bar of a sign below and swinging herself up onto a rooftop.
Marshall flipped as well, but instead of landing, he used his hand to flip himself again off of the hill, landing on the edge of a rooftop opposite of hers.
They nodded to each other, splitting directions as they began.
"From all the area I covered there was nothin- Oof!"
Marshall yanked her down to lying low level and shushed her, turning back around to what he has been watching the entire time.
Marceline looked over to see what he was doing, figuring it out instantly.
The both of them were hidden in the darkness, lying along a rooftop, watching as an outdoor party unfolded in front of them. Loads of people were there, dancing to loud music and laughing.
Marshall pointed downward, a group of policemen where he was pointing. Then he pointed to a table, a large cake centered in the middle. Lastly he pointed to a pile of presents.
Marceline took a piece of broken tile, throwing it at the mountain of presents. The presents toppled over easily, bringing them both to a conclusion. The boxes were empty.
He pointed at the cake again, and then pointed at Marceline, then back at the cake.
She groaned in annoyance, pulling her own hood over her head. Marceline silently crawled along the rooftop until she was directly above the cake. She waited for him to make some sort of signal.
Marshall tapped his chin in thought, looking around for some sort of way he could divert their attention away. There was no roof so the thought of making something fall down and break wasn't an option. He looked down at the policemen, laughing and talking when they were most likely there to guard the area.
Fionna watched as the presents were suddenly hit, causing them to fall over. She looked around, even along the rooftops to find who did it. Holding her earpiece she spoke. "They're pretty good. I don't think they're going to do anything with all these people here though."
"Remember Fionna, it could be somebody else, we don't know for sure. And how do you suppose we get these people away? I didn't even invite this many people." Finn's voice sounded from the earpiece.
"I think we shou-"
"Everybody run!" A police officer screamed.
Continuous gunshots were heard.
Everybody began screaming and evacuating the area, holding the back of their heads as they ran. The music was cut short and the laughing was replaced with either crying or screaming.
Fionna looked around wondering what was happening. She ran over to the officer that screamed. "What happened?"
"I-I don't know." He held the gun that was fired, observing it. "Oh I see." He looked at the trigger. "The spring inside the trigger broke. And hey! Shouldn't you be running?!"
Fionna ignored him and turned around. The cake was missing. She held her earpiece "They took it." She confirmed.
"Did you see them?" Finn's voice was almost covered by the screaming and crying from where he was currently at.
"Unfortunately no. The gunshot distracted me. Where are you anyway?!"
"Trying to calm everybody down."
Fionna sighed and took her hand off of her earpiece, looking up at the rooftops and to the moon. Even if they weren't going to catch them today, she wanted to see them to make sure if it actually was them. But at least they had the tracker and she could find out sometime.
"Marshall wait." Marceline stuck her hand into the cake, pulling out a small metal chip.
He took it from her. "Tracker."
"The agents?"
"Most likely."
Marceline smiled. "Say, when was the last time they saw us?"
He smiled back. "Don't remember. How about we go pay them a visit?" He held the tracker between his fingers.
"Tomorrow looks like a fine night."
"Tomorrow it is." Marshall carefully opened up the small chip, reprogramming it.
The two FP's make an appearance!
I finally got around to writing this.
Marshall has won the more mature serious one.
Reply Time!:
PerfectlyStrange: Thank you! :D Your vote has been counted as well!
squirtle9783: I wouldn't say great xD But thank you I appreciate it!
Charmanderfan: Thanks for voting!
Some nobody: I sense some deja vu here.
rachel: Thanks xD I guess lol and don't worry I was going to go with those choice pairings anyway.
Anon: I know xD either way does work which is why I was asking lol and thanks!
KatMason: Cool beans. Thanks for voting xD
Mikispade: Thanks! :D And thanks for voting!
Flowergirl0927: Why thank you! And thanks for voting :D
Guest: Okay xD Thank you!
Guest: Hopefully this chapter answered your question on how they'd meet lol
Guest: Yus! Okay hehe thanks.
And the voting poll is now closed! Marshall Lee has won more serious-like than Marcy. Don't worry guys it's not going to be a BIG difference. You'll see though.
